Former Secretary of the Interior, James Watt, wearing a cowboy hat, smiles and waves at the Santa Barbara Airport on boarding an airliner on October 16, 1983, to leave after a week and a half stay at a private ranch near here. During his stay, Watt resigned as Secretary of the interior. (UPI Files/Mike Hill/Files)

James Watt, FRS, FRSE (19 January 1736 – 25 August 1819) was a Scottish inventor and mechanical engineer whose improvements to the Newcomen steam engine were fundamental to the changes brought by the Industrial Revolution in both the Kingdom of Great Britain and the world.

While working as an instrument maker at the University of Glasgow, Watt became interested in the technology of steam engines. He realised that contemporary engine designs wasted a great deal of energy by repeatedly cooling and re-heating the cylinder. Watt introduced a design enhancement, the separate condenser, which avoided this waste of energy and radically improved the power, efficiency, and cost-effectiveness of steam engines. He developed the concept of horsepower. The SI unit of power, the watt, was named after him.

Watt attempted to commercialise his invention, but experienced great financial difficulties until in 1775 he entered a partnership with Matthew Boulton. The new firm of Boulton and Watt was eventually highly successful and Watt became a wealthy man. In retirement, Watt continued to develop new inventions though none were as significant as his steam engine work. He died in 1819 at the age of 83.

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